Darkness Rising  Prologue
by Secret Writter
Summary: An event that will always be in memory. Of things that are, and of things that could have been, given the right words...


**A Prologue**

She saw him, her predator, and she grew confident in knowing he didn't know it. But maybe she'd let him win this time...

Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière held herself steady as she sprinted across open terrain, doing her best to stay away from her stalker. Taking care not to step on any twigs or particularly dry leaves, she reached and pressed herself against a large, rustling tree and tried catching her breath.

They'd been at this for minutes now. They'd clashed three times before, only to become separate again and again as their game of hide and seek continued. Mid-pant, she chuckled quietly to herself. She'd had the best of him twice before. Maybe she'd let him get her this time...

Her breathing back to normal, Louise tried her best to listen to the forest around her, doing her best to listen to any mistakes her hunter would possibly make. Hearing the nearby crunch of dry leaves, her eyes snap in the direction and catch only a glimpse of his figure before he reaches the tree. He was getting closer.

She grinned at his confidence and readied herself for another dash. Waiting until the wind picked up again, she ran for another tree, farther this time, as the forest around her rustled its leaves and branches with the wind, masking her retreat. Her heart raced as she heard a sound not of her own or of the forest, his sound. He chased her, knew she would move at this time. He really was quick to adapt.

The mage made it to her chosen tree and keeping herself away from the twigs and foliage, went around it as quietly as possible. She wasn't going to make this easy one him, and with that thought in mind, she finally decided to pull out her wand. Again she waited and again the wind blew against the trees with their familiar violence. She heard a rattle, thuds against the ground, as someone moved. Was he naturally a heavy-stepper or was he finally coming to get her?

As soon as the wind died out, it stopped, but with a strange 'pat'. Louise swallowed hard as time passed and the growing tension was becoming too long for her. Giving in, the mage slid against the tree and peered around it, careful to not give herself too much. The tree rustled a bit but it was not her concern for the moment.

There was nothing by the tree, and upon listening, there was no further sound from the forest. But her ears were hardly ever wrong. He did come this way, the proximity of the noise made her know it. It was when the wind blew and the trees rattle-...

The tree...

The grip on her wand tightened and she found herself reluctant to look, but forced herself to. It was only with the brief look up at the tree that Louise came face to face with her stalker and his wolfish grin. Her wand lightened up.

His smug grin immediately morphed into a frown. "H-Hey, we agreed, no pow- w-whoa." He lost his footing and tried grabbing onto a branch. He failed and fell out of the tree, landing on his back. "Hngh! G-Gahhhh!" His hands rubbed the back of his head quickly. Though in pain and feeling his back ache greatly, he opened an eye to see what Louise thought of it, and seeing her giggle to herself, felt some of the pain leave him. He sighed and moved to get up.

"It pleases me that my pain brings you so much joy." he mutters jokingly as he pats himself down. Finished, he gives her a smile and places his hands on his hips. "So this makes what, two on two?"

"I never agreed to play this game." she tells him, crossing her arms. But her smile was still there. "You're the one who ran off and dared me to find you."

"Ah, but when you did, you decided to hide yourself didn't you? Come on, you go into it, admit it." He grins and states matter-of-factly.

She turns away, holding her head high. "I was only humoring you." she replies, though she was smiling still. She hears him hum in amusement and hears him approach. She was tempted to turn but held herself firm. At least until she found his arms wrapping around her. "H-Hey, what are you-!" With ease, he lifted her light frame and laughed to himself as she tried fighting him off. Her resistance slowly fell however, her assaulting arms grabbing his own as she began to laugh.

How long had it been since she'd simply enjoyed her self...? Felt this kind of peace...? He stopped only when he lost his footing, taking care to make himself take the fall and falling against the tree they'd finished their game at. Her laughter slowly vanished and soon she lost herself to the silence of the forest around them, a feeling of peace spreading through her from where they both lay. That's right... she only recently began feeling this kind of joy... about the time when...

The arms around her tightened. Louise felt her face redden as how they lay occurred to her. "Saito, we should-"

"Stay." he cut in. It surprised her greatly. The mental image that ran through her mind at that second only helped her face to redden.

"W-We should go. Come on, they're probably waiting for us." she tries. But she doesn't move. Her body was betraying her. She swallows hard.

"We should stay." he replies again. She feels obliged to respond quickly but stiffens as she feels him bury himself in her hair, breathing slowly. He wasn't giving her a choice. She felt a need to remind him of the master-familiar order of command, but felt herself look down instead.

"O-Okay."

Seconds turned into minutes as they sat beneath the tree. She expected these feelings to eventually leave her and for her to scold him into returning to the academy, but they remained and worse, they grew. Her mouth opened as she tried forcing the necessary words out, but none came out. She felt him shift beneath her and felt the need to ask what he was doing until she found herself starring at him eye to eye. Her lips locked and eyes blinked. He just smiled back at her.

"Louise. Kiss me." he asked softly.

"Oh... okay... I-I mean, what!" Her face was possibly an unhealthy shade of red now. She immediately pressed a hand against his face and tried pushing him away, though both noted it was weak. "W-What gives you the right to ask me for that!"

He shifted his face around her hand, but couldn't make it slide off. "I-I just thought that you might have softened to me a bit." he tried. "You know... after that thing with your family."

She tensed and pressed her hand against him even more. "Y-You mean you're trying to take advantage of me!"

"Hey, that's not what I said!" he replied. Finally feeling the hand slide off him, he said, "I was just trying to..." his eyes diverted. "...to bond a little more."

She felt a sensation course through her, causing her body to tense up. She diverted her eyes as well and crossed her arms around herself. But turned to him a short while later. "Well... if its for the sake of bonding..." Feeling a blush hit her, she quickly adds, "F-For a better master-familiar relationship!" He blinks in response but a gentle smile slowly curves from his lips. Seeing it all unfold before her made her blush further intensify. He nodded.

"Alright... master."

She nods, but her mouth quivers. "A-Alright." She looks away for a few seconds before closing her eyes and pursing her lips. She hears him hum his gratitude and feels him come close. But he stopped. She opened an eye in curiosity and saw him stare back at her with a soft expression.

"Louise, I mean master." His smile broadens. "I love you." She couldn't handle it anymore. Luckily she didn't have to. He closed the gap he left between them and pressed his lips against her tender own. For Louise it felt like she was in the greatest of realms, filled with joy and peace. It was so perfect... until she heard herself moan.

It was so sudden and alone showed just how much she was enjoying it. With embarrassment flooding her in a flash, she pulled herself away. It took all the willpower she had to do so, she noted. "T-That's enough." she looked away. Saito silently gasped in surprise but gave her another smile and nodded.

"Alright..."

Despite her end of the moment, she remained close to him. Her mind raced as to whether or not to take advantage of their privacy, to have another spirit lifting kiss with him... but at the same time the aristocrat within her scolded her and demanded she express her power over him and the situation... if she felt she had any. Her thoughts rammed into each other over and over for seconds until a single movement brought her out of them immediately. Saito placed his hand over hers.

The mage turned to her familiar and took in his smiling visage once more. Ensured he'd had her attention, he quietly says, "You know I'll protect you... right?"

"...y-yes." she replies in a whisper. But only a second later she shakes herself vigorously. "I-I mean y-y-yes! Of course! I'm y-your master and you're my familiar! I-It's your job!"

"Your heavy blush is telling me a bit more." he replies, grinning. The mage's eyes widen and she immediately turns around with, what Saito considered, a cute squeak. She stays facing the other direction for a time and he hears her repeating 'Idiot' a few times before eventually turning her head sideways.

"...Its time to go."

Enough was enough. He need not pester her longer. He nodded. "Yes. You're right." He stands and looking down at his master, offers a hand. She looks at it briefly before looking elsewhere. But she takes it anyways, as he'd expected. Both patting each other clean and emotionally rejuvenated, they proceed past the trees and into an open clearing, two horses waiting for them by a bush.

The familiar was the first to his horse and not a second after, his sword left its scabbard and began complaining about the noises he'd heard in the forest. Then in a whisper, began accusing Saito of performing unmentionable deeds to his master, in which Saito replies with his own face reddening and quickly trying to convince the sword no such things happened.

Louise watched them through the conversation idly though she hardly heard a word of it herself. It didn't matter. She was only starring at her rapidly embarrassed familiar and his reactions, which brought a smile to her lips. A subtle one... but it was there.

She recalled a question she'd asked herself, about how long it had been since she'd enjoyed herself and the answer she provided herself a while after. It was the right answer. Saito did bring her a sense of happiness she hardly ever felt... not to mention other emotional storms considering how much of a pervert he was around the others. But it mattered little. She knew where his heart lay and though she says it's because he's her familiar, she knows otherwise. It's because he loves her. And maybe... given proper timing and circumstances...

...she can finally repeat those powerful three words to him.

Mounted and proceeding down the road as they should have done several minutes ago, both master and familiar headed for the academy, notably close to each other.

* * *

><p><em>For those viewers who have followed us through the Mass Effect Era, I ask you not worry as to their conditions.<em>

_Aside from planning issues and plain laziness, our fellow Writter is in a bind. To pick up the slack, his fellow Writter's have decided to expand onto his account and write fics, depending on personal interests._

_We ask that all if any complaints be directed towards Secret_Writter for this turn of events, however we ask that all credit on this fic and other non-'Mass Effect pieces be given towards either Secret_Assistant or Secret_Helper respectably._

_We are... aware of the names rather dull creativity, but it wasnt our choice to begin with. Meh._

_- Yours truly, Secret_Assistant (or Alice)_


End file.
